Trump calls for 10% baseline tariff "on everybody"

 Trump Floats Tariff Plan That Will Make Everything More Expensive | Reason | Eroc Boehme:

August 22, 2023 - "Inflation apparently has not been high enough in the few years since former President Donald Trump left office—so he's proposing new import taxes that will raise prices for American families and businesses. In an interview last week with Larry Kudlow, the former president floated plans for a new 10 percent tariff on all imports to the United States. Trump described the proposal as putting 'a ring around the collar' of the U.S. economy.

"'When companies come in and they dump their products in the United States, they should pay, automatically, let's say a 10 percent tax,' Trump said on Fox Business. 'I do like the 10 percent for everybody.'

"On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that the same topic was discussed Monday night at a Trump campaign strategy meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey. According to the Post, the plan being discussed would include a '"universal baseline tariff" on virtually all imports to the United States' and figures to be a major plank in Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.

"For starters, kudos to Trump for correctly describing his plan as a tax. Because that's exactly what this would be: a tax hike on American businesses and consumers who purchase products from abroad.... That's the only detail worth praising, however.

"As Trump should have learned after hiking tariffs on steel, aluminum, and loads of goods imported from China during his term in office, import taxes do little more than hike costs for American consumers and businesses. A recent report by the International Trade Commission concluded that Americans 'bore nearly the full cost of these tariffs because import prices increased at the same rate as the tariffs.' Economists Mary Amiti, Stephen J. Redding, and David Weinstein have calculated that the tariffs directly reduced Americans' income by a cumulative $1.4 billion per month. Those costs are still adding up, since the Biden administration has largely left Trump's tariffs in place.... Meanwhile, Congress has not done anything to limit or rescind executive power over trade policy in the wake of Trump's abuse of those powers....

"Rep. Don Beyer (D–Va.), who has cosponsored a bipartisan bill to require presidents to gain approval from Congress before implementing tariffs for the purposes of national security, called Trump's proposal 'idiotic, illegal, and…a disaster for our economy' in a statement released Tuesday. Beyer said any attempt at implementing universal 10 percent tariffs would 'immediately violate numerous trade agreements, including the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement which Trump himself signed.'

"Even from a purely political point of view — that is, without the obvious economic and legal ramifications — this seems utterly absurd. Trump is a Republican running for office against an incumbent Democrat whose policies have contributed to rising inflation—and yet his tariff plan amounts to a promise to raise taxes, and prices, on Americans. Any other Republican would be laughed off the campaign trail for promising to raise taxes by 10 percent. Trump remains the clear frontrunner to win the Republican nomination."

Read more: https://reason.com/2023/08/22/trump-floats-tariff-plan-that-will-make-everything-more-expensive/

Tracing Trump's Aggressive Tariff Strategy Back to the 1980s | "Trump's Trade War" | FRONTLINE PBS | May 6, 2019:

Canadian copyright extension buried in trade deal

IPPro Magazine | The Great White North: How Canada is matching US IP system changes | ippromagazine.com - Ben Wadecki:

March 6, 2019 - "The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement USMCA, touted by US president Donald Trump as a 'great deal for all three countries', is a reorganisation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and will shape trade and IP relations between the three countries for years to come....

"In relation to copyright, Paul Smith, senior partner at Smiths IP, remarks that under USMCA, the extension of the copyright terms from the life of the author +50 years will become the life of the author +70 years.... Smith points out that the change has been criticised as a curtailment of Canadian heritage and as a significant increase in the cost of education in Canada, all apparently to benefit a handful of large US-based entertainment companies."
Read more: http://www.ippromagazine.com/specialistfeatures/specialistfeature.php?specialist_id=50

New NAFTA Would Harm Canadian Copyright Reform and Shrink the Public Domain - Creative Commons - Timothy Vollmer:

October 1, 2018 - "The extension of already-lengthy copyright terms will discourage new creativity in Canada. It will further prevent Canadians from accessing and using the rich pool of resources in the public domain, which means they can be used free of any copyright protections. Creativity always builds upon the past, and the public domain is our shared cultural commons used to create new works of art and science....

"Before these negotiations took place, an increase in copyright term was not  on the agenda for the Canadian reform. Last year, Canadian ministers responsible for the copyright review indicated some support of the public domain, stating that an updated law 'should ensure […] that users benefit from a public domain.' In our submission to the public consultation, we wrote:

"'We believe that Canada has been right to push back against any extension of copyright term or expansion of the scope. The copyright term of life of the author + 50 years is already far too long. Extremely long copyright terms prevent works from entering the public domain, where they may be used by anyone — including CC licensors — without restriction as the raw material for additional creative works.' If the USMCA is adopted, it will clearly violate the direction of the Canadian copyright reform....

"The USMCA text shows the powerful hand of U.S. copyright interests. A copyright term extension was floated in earlier versions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and Creative Commons joined with dozens of other organisations to push back on it then.... But USMCA shows a swing back in the other direction, almost surely a result of U.S. pressure to ratchet up copyright protection and enforcement measures....

"There is no reason for any more copyright term extensions, which would harm the commons and are contrary to the policies and values supported by the Creative Commons community."

Read more: https://creativecommons.org/2018/10/01/new-nafta-would-harm-canada-and-shrink-the-public-domain/

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Trump's war on NAFTA threatens 3 economies

Imitating Obama? | Liberty Unbound - Gary Jason:

October 23, 2017 - "I confess that I am no fan of Trump. Actually, that dramatically understates it. I regard him as a dangerous populist ignoramus whose crudity of character makes him unfit for office.... My only hope was that Trump, once in office, would at least pretend to be presidential....

"But unfortunately he has pursued his nativist and protectionist agendas. On the nativist agenda, he killed DACA — setting up the deportation of upwards of a million young people brought here involuntarily, and raised with scant knowledge of the countries of their births. Not only did he refuse to increase the H-1B visa and other programs that legally allow in college-trained STEM and medical professionals, but he has actually proposed cutting all legal immigration by half....

"On Trump’s protectionist agenda, after killing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Trump has set his sights on killing NAFTA.... Obama — Trump’s match in protectionism — started trade wars with both Mexico and Canada shortly after assuming office [but] slowly but surely came to understand why more than 90% of economists favor free trade. Obama eventually approved of the three free-trade agreements left to him by George Bush, and late in his second term negotiated the TPP.... But Trump is even more of a populist fool....

"The Wall Street Journal reports just how close to a collapse of the NAFTA talks we are.... [S]hould the talks collapse ... Colorado-based ImpactECON, has put the net job losses at 125,000 for Canada, 256,000 for the US, and a whopping 961,000 for Mexico over the next three to five years.

"If NAFTA does get repealed, tariffs would undoubtedly result.... Both Canada and Mexico will be furious at seeing the US dump the deal and will likely raise tariffs enormously.... The American Automobile Policy Council estimates that the rise of the price of domestic auto parts from the tariffs will cost 50,000 US jobs....

"The ImpactECON study says the small gains in US employment in production of machinery and chemical industries will be swamped by losses in the agricultural, auto, and apparel industries.... Under NAFTA, our agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada have risen fourfold, hitting $38 billion last year. If NAFTA is junked, the Mexicans could revert to their pre-NAFTA tariff levels of 75% on US chicken and corn syrup, 45% on turkey, potatoes, and dairy products, and 15% on wheat....

"Of course, the joke in all this is that the US was losing manufacturing jobs long before NAFTA.... The real 'culprit' is not international trade; it is automation and creative destruction.... The failure of many American workers to adjust to the shift from low-knowledge to high-tech factories results primarily from the pathetically poor average education they receive.... All of this could be cured if we did what supposedly socialist Sweden did over a quarter century ago: immediately adopt a universal voucher program — that is, require all public schools in America to adopt perfectly pro-rata voucher systems within one year....

"Rising protectionism and fear of trade don’t just run the risk of depression and trade wars — which in turn run the risk of military war. They also distract us from the real cause of long-term blue-collar unemployment: a horribly broken educational system."

Read more: http://www.libertyunbound.com/node/1771
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Vicente Fox campaigns for legal cannabis

At Phoenix cannabis expo, Vicente Fox talks marijuana, trade, Trump - Jason Pohl, Arizona Republic:

October 14, 2017 - "Former Mexican President Vicente Fox on Saturday made the case for broad-scale marijuana legalization in Arizona, telling a Phoenix crowd the days of failed drug policies were fading, despite rhetoric from President Donald Trump's White House.

"Speaking to hundreds of entrepreneurs, industry leders and curious residents at the Southwest Cannabis Conference and Expo at the Phoenix Convention Center, Fox reiterated his disdain for drug wars.... Fox said it was only a matter of time before all-out legalization was reality across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"'I’m here to share with this community a future that we have ahead, a future of an economic sector that is good for people, good for health, good for the economy,' Fox told reporters before his keynote speech. 'But more so is good because it gives us the freedom to make our own decisions."

"Fox was Mexico's president from 2000 [to] 2006. Since leaving office, he has made far-reaching cannabis legalization a priority....

"He spoke in June at a similar convention in Oakland, saying Mexico and Canada had every intention of taking the lead on medical and recreational marijuana exports. The goal, he said, was to have Mexico produce 60 percent of the legal marijuana used by Americans, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

"Fox renewed those comments Saturday. He said the ongoing discussions about renegotiating the NAFTA ... needed to address the role of the cross-border marijuana trade. Tearing up the expansive policy framework would be detrimental to all industry and shove the United States and Mexico back in time, Fox said....

"Mexico has been incrementally legalizing various uses of marijuana and its derivatives for several years. In June, current Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a decree legalizing medical marijuana, classifying the substance's psychoactive ingredient as 'therapeutic.' Medical marijuana use in Canada has long been accepted, and recreational use is widely expected to be legalized next year."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/10/14/phoenix-southwest-cannabis-conference-expo-vicente-fox-legalization-donald-trump/764579001/
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Trump targets Canadian supply management

Trump attacks Canada’s supply management for dairy as unfair to U.S. | Calgary Herald:

April 18, 2017 — "Donald Trump has put Canada on notice that he is taking aim at its much-coveted supply management system that protects the dairy industry.

"Trump levelled the threat during an event at a Wisconsin factory where he unveiled his 'Buy American-Hire American executive order.

"He says he will seek 'fair trade' with all of America’s trading partners 'and that includes Canada.'

"Trump says 'unfair things' have happened in Canada to U.S. dairy farmers.

"Last month, a free-market think tank suggested using more open trade in the dairy sector as a bargaining chip in upcoming trade negotiations with the U.S. in exchange for more stable trade in softwood lumber.

"The Montreal Economic Institute recommends limiting protectionism in both industries to help consumers, spur economic productivity, and ultimately create more successful businesses in both countries.....

"The current system limits the amount of dairy and poultry Canada can import before a tariff kicks in. Dismantling it would mean lower prices at the supermarket, and a more internationally competitive industry, says the paper.

"For his part, Finance Minister Bill Morneau will tell this week’s meeting of G20 finance ministers in Washington that Trump’s executive order runs contrary to Canada’s trading interests.

"Senior finance officials who briefed reporters on the meetings suggest the order would run counter to protections Canada has secured through NAFTA."

Read more: http://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/trump-attacks-canadas-supply-management-for-dairy-as-unfair-to-u-s
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NAFTA suit alleges Ontario gov't cronyism in wind power contracts

For Pickens, Wind Claim May Be Last Power Play - The New York Times - Alexandra Stevenson:

October 15, 2015 - "T. Boone Pickens made billions drilling for oil and gas and squaring off in bare-knuckled corporate takeover bouts. Now the 87-year-old tycoon ... is using his rights under the North American Free Trade Agreement to bring claims against the Canadian province of Ontario.... He is seeking $700 million in damages for future losses related to bids that his wind power company, Mesa Power, lost in wind power auctions in Ontario.

"Mr. Pickens and Mesa Power contend that [a] Florida company, NextEra, was granted exclusive access through private meetings with important government officials that ultimately tilted the bidding in its favor.

"The province of Ontario granted NextEra $3.8 billion in energy contracts. Mesa Power contends that $18,600 in donations that NextEra made to the ruling Liberal Party in Ontario before elections in 2011 had undue influence on the auction.

"NextEra did not respond to a request for comment....

"When Ontario enacted a Green Energy Act in 2009, ... the government created a program to provide incentives for companies to invest in renewable energy projects. Companies that were awarded contracts would be paid premium guaranteed prices set by the government.... Cole Robertson, who was vice president of finance for Mesa Power at the time, not[ed] that the government’s set price in 2011 was double that in Texas at [that] time.

"Mesa Power submitted several project proposals through the program. But when the first rankings came out in late 2010, its executives disputed the assessments, arguing that Mesa Power’s projects should have been higher.... Ontario government officials have countered that Mesa Power did not submit its applications properly....

"Mesa Power later disputed an auction in the spring of 2011, complaining of a lack of transparency around the process of awarding contracts and insufficient time for public consultation. Mesa Power executives wrote to Shawn Cronkwright, an official with the power authority, seeking clarification and meetings with the agency and the Ministry of Energy. Mr. Cronkwright told Mesa Power executives that these meetings would not be possible because the agency had yet to award contracts, according to court documents....

"A review of documents and emails between NextEra executives, lobbyists and government officials show that NextEra met and held calls with high-level officials at the Ontario Ministry of Energy, the premier’s office and the power authority, even as Mesa Power executives were told they could not speak to officials until contracts were awarded. When NextEra lobbyists requested more information, officials sometimes responded within hours.

"Mr. Pickens’s lawyers argue that NextEra was able to wield influence because of its chief lobbyist, Bob Lopinski at Counsel Public Affairs. A former adviser to the Ontario premier, Dalton McGuinty, Mr. Lopinski was hired in 2010. He contacted former colleagues in the premier’s office to set up meetings for senior NextEra executives including Mitch Davidson, the chief executive. He also arranged for meetings at the Ministry of Energy and the power authority....

"For NextEra, whose operations include electricity plants in Hawaii and wind farms in North Dakota, such political contributions are not unusual. In the United States, the company has spent millions of dollars in political donations to both the Republican and Democratic parties.

"'You can’t win an election in Florida without the support of NextEra,' said William Pentland, managing partner at Brookside Strategies, an energy consulting firm."

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/business/dealbook/for-pickens-wind-claim-may-be-last-power-play.html?_r=0 'via Blog this'